Tessa Gratton Witty, clever, and often extremely funny, Rowland's tale of a prince who doesn't want power but has it anyway – and must survive all the risks that brings with it – somehow manages to be both soft and hard-edged, clever and kind. And sexy! Very much that too This slow-burn romantic fantasy with a heavy dose of political intrigue is rich in world-building and emotional angst.... A queernormative fantasy world."— Buzzfeed The ambassador of Oissos is behaving with no sense of decorum whatsoever,” Zeliha went on. “She keeps following me around and declaiming as if she’s in the middle of her Senate. I don’t know who thought a Senate was a good idea. All it seems to do is turn out a load of annoying power-hungry bureaucrats.”

If you’ve been searching for a queer fantasy romance, look no further than A Taste of Gold and Iron. Not only is there a great balance between characters and magic, but also perfect for fans of body guard and royalty romance!”— Utopia State of Mind

Kadou is the Prince of Arasht, and after a situation occures in which he barely escapes being sent off to the countryside by his sister the Sultan, he's assigned a new bodyguard. Evemer has recently graduated with top marks. He's the perfect no-nonsense and stoic guard.

Kadou and Evemer are both such compelling characters and I loved exploring their relationship and how they helped each other grow and develop. There was a lot of angst and yearning but at the same time it felt very gentle and sweet which are my favourite kinds of relationship. I also really liked the relationship both of them had with another character called Tadek, who is Kadou's ex-lover and after events at the start of the book has been demoted from being a kahyalar to being Kadou's armsman, he is such well fleshed out side character and I was just as invested in his story as the two mains - he honestly deserves his own spin-off. I loved his sass and charm, as well as the progression of his relationship with Evemer - it's not romantic in any way but something I really love is when two characters who don't like each other intially slowly become friends and seeing how much they both care for Kadou and bond over it was so adorable. The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire. Queer fantasies will forever hold a special place in my heart. I grew up reading all the big YA fantasies and was disappointed every single time I didn’t see myself represented in the stories. Now that I am an adult, I prefer to read about people my own age, and it fills me with so much joy to see novels like A Taste of Gold and Iron being published. This book has everything that I love about stories. Sometimes a book can feel like it was written for you, and I felt that every single time I sat down to return to this astonishing world.It's the perfect slow burn. Even their friendship is a slow burn, and getting to that point in their romance where they admit their true feelings, not only to each other but to themselves, is so worth it. deadhedge on The Secret of the Sul’Dam: Subtle Changes to the Way the One Power Works in The Wheel of Time TV Series 40 mins ago